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David Ward will be battling incumbent, Jean Todt, for the position of FIA president. Both have extensive background ties to Formula One. Photo by LAT PHOTOGRAPHIC

Ahead of the FIA presidential elections on Dec. 6, newly declared candidate David Ward has issued a 20-point manifesto that he hopes will help him gain the nominations he needs from at least 26 FIA-affiliated national motorsport bodies.

The British administrator is challenging the incumbent president of the world governing body, the former Peugeot and Ferrari Formula One team principal, Jean Todt. The Frenchman, whose first four-year term will expire at the end of the year, has yet to confirm that he will stand for re-election, but is widely expected so to do.

In his "Agenda for Change" distributed to all the member clubs, 56-year-old Ward (a former aide to longtime FIA president Max Mosley) asserted, "The FIA can give the impression of being antiquated and autocratic. The powers of the presidency are too wide to be effective or fully accountable. In some areas, the trend for reform has been reversed.

“Jean Todt's presidency has solid achievements to highlight and I’m still proud to have played a key role in his successful 2009 election. However, that does not mean that further change isn't necessary to ensure that the FIA develops a governance system that meets global best practices."

The manifesto lists 20 reforms that Ward would make, as follows:

Presidency, Management & Location

1. Allow the FIA President the possibility to serve in a non-executive role

2. Appoint a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) on a fixed term contract hired by open recruitment

3. Create a Management Board (with representation from each World Council, and chaired by the FIA President) responsible for budget matters, contract and due diligence supervision, and implementation of a multi-year Strategic Plan developed with the World Councils for approval by the General Assembly

4. Convert the Senate into a Supervisory Board (following modern corporate practice of a two-tier board structure)

5. Appoint Commissioners for each FIA World Championship responsible to the World Motor Sport Council for day-to-day management and supervision of the championship

6. Retain Paris headquarters as main administration office and locus of the sporting power and all major contractual agreements

Resources & Club Support

7. At a time of austerity aim to reduce overheads, avoid waste, and reduce travel expenditure

8. Use all the revenue in excess of regulatory costs of the Formula One World Championship arising from the new Concorde Agreement for investment in motorsport safety, sustainability, solidarity funding of ASN development programs, and for training of officials and volunteers

9. Avoid duplicating the work of the FIA Foundation and the FIA Institute and concentrate FIA activities on priorities that are beyond these organizations’ mandates

10. Use any overall operating surpluses to fund development grants for clubs in low-and middle-income countries

Transparency & Good Governance

11. Publish annual accounts that conform to International Accounting Standards and include a narrative from the President and CEO explaining the overall performance of the FIA, key developments of the year, any relevant issues or related party transactions and future plans

12. Amend the Ethics Code so that it is fully consistent with the 2001 Statement on Good Governance Principles developed by the FIA and the International Olympic Committee

13. Adopt a policy against bribery and corruption to the latest international standards and amend the Ethics Code accordingly

14. Ensure that due diligence is carried out on all external contracts to ensure that they are consistent with competition policies and avoid commercial conflicts of interest

Elections, Eligibility & Procedures

15. Restrict eligibility for FIA Presidential election to Club Presidents or Senior Office Holders nominated by their clubs

16. Restore the Presidential term limit to two periods of four years not three as at present

17. Reduce the nominating threshold to three clubs (one from each member category)

18. Reduce the Presidential list to three: a President and two Deputies for Sport and Mobility

19. Elect the Senate President (future Supervisory Board) separately from the Presidential list

20. Ensure equal treatment to all candidates and ban any pre-election period support letters.